Prime minister wants safety first before restarting reactors

NAMIE, Fukushima Prefecture--Visiting the prefecture that hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on March 24 reiterated that consideration of restarting suspended nuclear reactors hinges on guaranteeing their safety, although he believes the power supply is vital to the region's reconstruction.

“It will be difficult to recover (from the disaster) if there aren’t stable sources of electricity,” Abe, who visited the towns of Tomioka and Namie in the prefecture, told reporters.

“I am reminded that the nuclear disaster has had a significant impact (on Fukushima Prefecture). I would like to decide (whether to restart reactors) after thoroughly ensuring their safety."

The latest inspection is Abe’s second visit to the prefecture since he became prime minister in December. Currently 48 of the nation's 50 nuclear reactors have been suspended as a consequence of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, where three reactor meltdowns occurred following an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

On March 24, Abe talked with the mayors of Tomioka and Namie over future issues and other topics. Residents of the two towns have not been allowed to return since the disaster, but they will be allowed to make brief visits, excluding areas designated by the government as where people cannot live for more than six years from the accident due to high radiation levels, from March 25 and April 1, respectively.

Abe showed his intention to improve the infrastructure there, saying the government will “develop facilities for the gas and water supply.”

Abe also visited Naraha, a town next to Tomioka, and encouraged police officers working at the Kami-Shigeoka checkpoint there.

“Your responsibilities will become more important when brief visits (to Tomioka) become possible,” Abe said.

The prime minister also visited a farm utilizing plastic greenhouses in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. Abe showed his desire to hurry along reconstruction minister Takumi Nemoto, who accompanied him, into taking measures to alleviate the damaging effects that negative publicity from the nuclear disaster have had on local farmers.

“The task of politics is to dispel these rumors (that are ruining the reputation of farm goods made in Fukushima),” Abe said.

Although there is less call for their services, a number of Tokyo-based citizens groups continue to monitor radioactivity levels to assuage those still not convinced that the worst of the 2011 nuclear crisis is over.

NAGOYA--Police arrested the manager of a construction firm here for using a teenager to help remove soil and debris contaminated by radioactive substances released in the nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. submitted its plan to provide wide-ranging training programs for workers engaged in decommissioning of its crippled nuclear power plant in Fukuskima Prefecture following a string of accidents, some of them fatal.

Nuclear power is not mentioned in the children's picture book "Hikari no Ryu" (The dragon of light), but there's no mistaking the ominous message of a happy tale turned tragic by an unanticipated quirk of nature.